Man accused of faking his death to face fraud charge

Businessman to face fraud chargeClear Lake man is accused of faking his death after he defaulted on a loan

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, November 17, 2004

A Clear Lake businessman who investigators said faked his own death after defaulting on a $4 million loan will be returned from West Virginia to Houston to face fraud charges, the U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday.

Deputy U.S. marshals arrested Larry Michael Nixon, 55, earlier this month after his release from jail in Wood County, W.Va., and a federal magistrate judge Monday ordered him returned to Houston.

Nixon is accused of defrauding Minnwest Bank Central in Montevideo, Minn., by using a Sealy machinery company as a middleman.

According to the charges, he opened a $4 million line of credit with the bank to purchase cranes, then paid the owner of Rhino Machinery and Rental commissions $1,500 to $2,000 for preparing invoices for cranes that he claimed he had purchased elsewhere.

The bank wired the money to Rhino, which transferred it to Nixon, minus the commission, for cranes that never existed, the charges state.

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Known as the "King of the Lake" for his wild parties and fondness for fast boats, Nixon was reported missing after his 40-foot speedboat, "Living Extra Fast," collided with a barge near Redfish Island on Aug. 27, 2003, in the Houston Ship Channel.

Minnwest had declared him in default on $4 million in loans days earlier.

He was arrested Jan. 9 at a rural guest house in Parker County, near Fort Worth, on a warrant from West Virginia.

Parker County deputies alleged that Nixon had obtained fake identification over the Internet and used it to open a bank account and purchase a late-model Chevrolet Tahoe.

Prosecuting attorney Ginny Conley in Wood County, W.Va., said Nixon was convicted Nov. 1 of bilking $425,000 from a local machinery company in a scheme to sell a heavy-duty crane to a phantom purchaser in the Netherlands.

He was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay $650,000 in restitution, but he is unable to pay, Conley said.

She said Nixon was released from jail within the last two weeks because he had served most of his sentence.

Nixon had been unable to post his $3.5 million bail and had remained in jail since his arrest, Conley said.